Rheumatic Mitral Valve Disease in the Elderly

Valvular heart disease: A study of mortality in the Sheffield population

“…Previous studies have suggested that mitral valve disease is found in 2.2% of hospital necropsies on patients aged 60 years and over (Hammond and Platts, 1960) and in 3-1 % of hospital necropsies on patients aged 50 years and over (Hargreaves, 1961). In the former series 30% were undiagnosed, but in the latter less than 5%.…”

“…Mitral stenosis is not uncommon in the elderly (Hammond and Platts, 1960;Hargreaves, 1961) in whom the diagnosis is often overlooked. Studies of hospital necropsies have suggested that 25% of cases are over the age of 60 years and that 70 % of such cases are diagnosed in life (Hammond and Platts, 1960).…”

Diagnosis of Mitral Stenosis

“…The diagnosis of the valvular lesion was not always made ante mortem, and this has been the experience of others. 12 The presence of mitral stenosis does not necessarily imply that the symptoms which the patient may have are due to the obstruction at the mitral orifice. Fatigue is a common symptom in cases of mitral stenosis.…”